by Scarlet Dawn
Mike’s head cocked, inhaling deeply, his brows lowering. “I haven’t met you before, but you smell of flowers. What type of Garden shifter are you?”
I kept my expression serene. “I don’t know what you’re talking about and my friends are waiting for me.” I could now see them behind him, both glancing around, already at the register, having made their orders and noticing I was missing. I angled my body a bit so I could see behind him from the corner of my eye. The shifter ‘royalty’ were almost on us. “If you’ll please excuse me?”
He didn’t move.
Fuck.
I tilted my body ever so slightly to edge around him, but he instantly leaned on a hip, indicating he would try to stop me if I moved.
Fuckity-fuck-fuck.
My blink was slow when I saw the wizard push the chair out next to him in a nonchalant way, barely noticeable really, but it was just enough that I saw a bit of a reprieve. If I sat down, then waited for the shifter group to sit down, then I could easily excuse myself since the only other free chairs were across the table. I cleared my throat, and pivoted, walking around the table swiftly, mumbling to the wizard, “I guess I’ll stay for a bit after all.”
The wizard merely snorted softly, tilting to the side, whispering absently, “I’m Caleb.”
“Nice to meet you, Caleb,” I muttered, sitting easily on the chair before I sat my small bag on my lap and pulled out my cellphone that buzzed in my pocket. It was Jackie, her text simple. I typed a quick reply that I was in the bathroom, and I’d find them if they wanted to sit on the other side of the barrier dividing The Bread Basket’s room in two (by the windows)—it was far away from here. Placing my phone back into my pocket, I sat comfortably, watching silently as the shifter ‘royalty’ stopped at the table, and decent, respectful greetings were made.
It was then that it dawned on me that this was neutral ground for them.
Public. Supposedly, no guards. The shifters together…and the lone wizard next to me.
This was peaceful for them, the wizard safe from any harm.
Even if it wasn’t so peaceful for me. I kept my gaze off Isaac.
Although his company did not, as they took their seats, eyeing me with interest.
As soon as their asses were in their chairs, I quickly glanced at my watch, ogling the dial. “Boy, look at that. I can’t believe it’s already…” Yeah, it didn’t matter. I grabbed my bag on my lap and began to stand, glancing at the wizard. “It was a pleasure. Thank you so much for saving me a seat.”
His chuckle was ever so quiet, his blue eyes twinkling the barest bit in his merriment, seeming to take great joy in what I had said as he gripped the back of my chair and helped to pull it out while I stood, my exit now clear to my friends. “You’re most welcome.”
Though, he lifted a finger. “I’m sorry. Wait just a moment.” He peered to the group around the table and blinked so damn softly. His voice was quiet. “I want you to know this young lady, Miss Kennedy Kirk, is under my protection. Should any of you decide that she should be harmed in the future…” his smile was small, “just don’t.”
My jaw flapped. He knew my name.
Uh, frightening he was.
He wiggled his nose.
I jerked and barely caught myself on the table with one hand. A sensation like tiny snowflakes, falling and melting on my flesh made my shoulders shudder. I ground my teeth against the unwanted chill, my gaze slamming on the wizard. But, just as quickly, I altered my attention, not giving away I knew he had performed magic on me.
My lips thinned, but I quickly straightened, all of their sharpened gazes on me—except the wizard. My gaze landed on no one, just flying over the table, my words soft as I mumbled, “Um…goodbye, everyone.”
Mike made a gurgling sound inside his throat, staring at Caleb with quietly deadly eyes, then he jerked forward, peering around his brother—who I still wasn’t looking at—and hissed at Mrs. Stone, “Aren’t you going to do something?”
Mrs. Stone’s forehead wrinkled her confusion clear. “What?”
Yeah, it was my cue to leave. I quickly jerked to the side, holding my bag close to my chest, beginning to step a foot between my empty chair and Mandy’s. This wasn’t the lunch I had planned.
The most deadly growl stopped me in my tracks as it purred through the air, the hair on my arms standing up as goose bumps of fear raised on my skin, my heart rapidly beating a heavy thrum inside my chest. That growl was a sound meant for death. The silence before an outbreak of bloodshed.
It was The Mayor. His Gargoyle.
No one at the table moved.
Locking my legs that wanted to start trembling, my gaze slowly tilted to the left. To him.
I almost peed my pants. No shame in that when it was definitely the Gargoyle staring from his eyes. The only reason I didn’t, with death staring as such, was because he wasn’t watching me.
Those quietly glowing eyes were solely focused on Caleb. “She knows.”
To which, the—seemingly incredibly vain—wizard merely lifted his fork, pointed it absently at me, then forked another bite of his macaroni, holding Isaac’s gaze while he stated evenly, “She’s not a shifter—or a wizard—as you can clearly tell now with the spell gone since I know that’s what you’re really asking.” He smiled as Isaac’s growl abruptly cut off.
My lips wanted to thin, but I kept my expression as silent as the table, staring at the plate that the wizard was eating from. To run or to stay—and try to diffuse a possibly bad situation—were my only thoughts now.
Mrs. Stone broke the quiet, asking incredulous, “You thought she was a shifter?”
Isaac didn’t move a muscle. I took a glance at him, only to see him staring at his hands on the table. His fingers were spread, relaxed flat on the tabletop. He actually appeared calm…except for the rigid set of his shoulders that were only starting to ease in tension. He wasn’t speaking either, so that was a bad indication.
Mike cleared his throat after glancing once at his brother, then he leaned forward, stating, “She’s been to the shifter office down the street. She dropped off a package there. What did you expect us to think?”
Mrs. Stone stared for a long moment, and then sniffed heavily in my direction, and her shoulders stiffened. “She does smell like flowers.” Her frightening gaze snapped to mine, freezing me further in place. “You were invited into the shifter office?” Her head cocked. “You lied about being a shifter?”
I breathed slowly, unable to look away from her. The ‘shifter’ was out of the bag. There was no point in lying.
I stated, “I was given a package from a wizard to deliver there. No one in particular invited me in, and I didn’t lie. I never said I was a shifter. People just keep thinking I am because I smell like the flower shop I work at.” I paused and then decided to explain further, “And, apparently, there was a spell on me. I actually did try to explain I wasn’t a shifter at the time, but I was rudely cut off.”
Her gaze was unyielding. “You weren’t invited, and yet you went inside?”
“Um…there was no one at the receptionist’s desk, so I went in when two other individuals exited.”
Her dark brows slammed together. “That makes no sense.”
“I’m sorry,” I said slowly though it did sound like a question. I was confused myself. She was overreacting about me going inside the building without an invite. “I did have the package to deliver.”
Isaac stirred next to her, and I felt his eyes on me. He was quiet for a long moment, then ever so casually relaxed back on his chair, his head cocking, making his hair rest against his cheek. His voice was calm and smooth. “What did this wizard look like that gave you the package?”
I mirrored him, making myself relax like his calming tone. “She had black dreadlocks and golden eyes,” my gaze slowly traveled to his, and I held his composed stunning green gaze, “and she had a lot of power. She wasn’t trying to hide it.” I shrugged a shoulder. “She said her name was Hanna.�
�
One of the rich townsfolk grunted at the end of the table. “Hanna Clipton.”
Isaac glared at him. “I believe I understood who she was speaking of. Your commentary is unnecessary.” Isaac’s Gargoyle had huffed before his attention snapped back to me. “What did Hanna say to you?”
My brows rose. “Nothing abnormal, if that’s what you mean. She just called in for a courier. I was on-call, so I went. She paid cash up front and told me to deliver the package to the address I went to. That was it.” My nose scrunched with an absent memory. “Actually, she did mention something about darkness coming. Since it was already night time, I just brushed it off as crazy wizard bullsh—” I stopped abruptly, pinching my lips together. “Sorry.”
Isaac’s brows slowly raised his tone hinting on amused. “You don’t like wizards.”
“No.”
“And shifters?”
Honest. “No.”
His lips gradually curved up. “And how can you tell the difference between a shifter, wizard, and human?”
Not so honest. “I have no idea. I just can.” I cleared my throat and then glanced at my watch. “I really do need to be going.” I turned my attention away from him to Mrs. Stone. “Have I answered all of your questions?”
Her brows were still slanted together, but she waved a bored, absent hand in my direction. “That’ll be all.” She turned her attention to her oldest son, Isaac, muttering quietly to him, “What the hell did Hanna have delivered there?”
I stared a beat longer after she had dismissed me like a lowly servant. Arrogant shifter bitch.
Isaac ignored her, instead, stopping me as I started to turn away again. “Exactly what are you?”
My lips twitched as I noticed everyone at the table as they took an avid interest in the question. Glancing at each one of them, my eyes landed on the wizard, Caleb. I stared expectantly, not saying a word.
He merely shook his head, wiping his mouth, having finished his macaroni. “That’s yours to tell. It seems they need to hear it from your mouth, even after I removed the spell placed on you.” He winked. “It was Hanna who put it on you that night, by the way.”
I chuckled quietly and then turned my attention back to Isaac. “I’m human.” My grin grew even broader as his expression turned quiet at the verification. I repeated his earlier comment, but there was no humor in my tone. “You don’t like humans.”
He merely stared nothing showing in his expression.
“Well…well…well, it appears fortunate I needed a new sweater,” a rough masculine voice stated loudly, and all of our attention snapped to the man walking up to the table. His arms were spread wide, a bag from the same store as mine dangling from one of his hands. “What are you all doing here? Having a secret pow-wow that I wasn’t invited to?”
My spine stiffened even further…as my heartbeat started to race madly inside my chest as grief and loss threatened to break my control. I placed a smooth hand on the back of Mandy’s chair to keep from crumpling in a sobbing heap.
Emotional scars? Yes, I still had them.
It was Council Member Jonathan Frank, his new recruit walking silently behind him.
Jonathan was looking everywhere but at me. His leather pants molded delicious to his strong thighs as he maneuvered through two tables, his expression as fake as could be, a shit-eating grin on his face finding everyone here—apparently, to his surprise. He lowered his arms, his plain dark gray t-shirt tugging to perfection on all of his torso muscles as he came to a stop at the head of the table, only Mandy between us. His tone was smooth as his red brows lifted, glancing at all the city council members, and then the Mayor and his mother. “Care to explain why I wasn’t invited?”
It was Isaac who answered, his tone exasperated and bored. “We’re here to discuss the road leading to St. Dymphna’s Convent. It’s been flooded recently by heavy rainfall, so we’re talking about issues of reconstruction on it.” Sure they were. He snorted softly, running his gaze up and down Jonathan’s casual attire. “And you had the day off, so we didn’t call.”
Jonathan’s nostrils flared. “You are beginning to piss me off, Mr. Mayor.”
Isaac smiled. “You’ve already pissed me off.” A black brow quirked. “One too many times.”
It was silent for the longest moment as they stared one another down. Then, ever so slowly, Jonathan’s eyes crept in my direction. Black and ruthless, they landed on my aqua blue gaze. The first time I had seen him in a month. His expression quieted, an even scarier vision knowing he was still furious. Long seconds ticked by, the noise of the deli court zoning out to a foggy buzzing in my ears as I held his gaze. Neither of us said anything for a full minute, then his wide lips opened and he muttered in the quietest whisper, “What the fuck are you doing here, Kennedy?”
My mouth wouldn’t open. Not for the longest moment, it taking everything in me to keep my emotions even. It wasn’t a comfortable situation as everyone’s heads started doing a ping-pong action, glancing back and forth between us, realizing we most definitely knew one another.
Yes, I knew the shifter hunter in your midst.
Eventually, I cleared my throat. Heavily. I was able to speak, my tone quiet, my words measured and slow. “I’m here with Rachel and Jackie. I got sidetracked here, but I’m leaving now.” I finally stepped out from between my empty chair and Mandy, and then gestured to it. “The seat’s free. You can sit there if you want.” He wasn’t going to leave this meeting. I knew that.
His delicately curved red brow lifted. “Sidetracked?”
“Yes.”
“About?”
“I delivered a package recently to an office building. They seemed intrigued by this fact.” They would also probably try to kill me at some point since I was a human who knew about the shifters and wizards. However, for right now, they were still too curious to do it soon.
His blink was slow. “I can understand their interest.”
“Why?” I knew he wouldn’t lie to me.
“Because only certain individuals are invited there.” A head tilt toward the table. “I can’t even get an invite.”
Oh. No humans allowed—a spell.
I blinked.
And no wizards either from the way Isaac had acted to the ‘guest’ there.
I relished the new emotion of ‘understanding,’ not heartache. “After I explained who the woman was who had given me the package, it seemed to appease them. Her name was Hanna Clipton.” These were the most words we had spoken—civilly—in a month.
He lifted a stiff hand, brushing his red hair back from his eyes. “She gives invites.”
My own nod was jerky. “Okay.” I had given him all the intel I had.
We stared at one another, his façade breaking the barest bit as his jaw clenched.
Lips pinching, I mumbled, “I’m leaving.” Clearing my throat, I brushed past Mandy, who had made room for me. Jonathan’s recruit lifted a hand in a gesture for me to pass by him. No way. Fuck that. The man was all types of vicious. I wasn’t letting him anywhere near…my hands clenched when Jonathan instantly stepped in front of his recruit, blocking him, and giving me space to move between him and the table. Stepping forward, I paused, then turned slightly, and lifted my hand toward his face, pointing.
His head instantly jerked back. Away from my touch. He even took a quick step back with that carefully silent expression on his handsome features.
My own jaw clenched at his action, but I pointed gently at his forehead. Not touching him, but needing to say this. “You have a little something on your forehead.” A red laser dot, a clear indication there were actually guards around this room.
His chuckle was dry. Jaded. His eyes narrowed on me the smallest bit before he rubbed at his forehead, pretending he didn’t know what I was talking about. “Did I get it?” Intelligent, he was.
“Probably when you leave, it will go away.” I lowered my hand slowly, my gaze holding his for the longest moment. “I am sorry.” So fucki
ng sorry.
He inhaled sharply, his gaze on mine, until it jerked over my head to the occupants of the table, scanning over all of them in rapid succession before landing back on mine. He jerked his head to the side, muttering harshly, so much scorn radiating in his quiet words, “Get the hell out of here, Kennedy.”
“All right,” I mumbled softly and slowly tore my gaze away from his. I walked away, my stomach torn in knots. I was betting I would throw up tonight and probably wouldn’t be able to sleep…his side of the bed cold and empty.
I made Jackie and Rachel leave my apartment.
Jonathan had called four hours after seeing him in The Bread Basket.
He wanted to come over.
To talk.
A huge step in the right direction.
I had also warned him when he called that I had a few people following me. They weren’t even trying to be covert. When you see the same individuals five times in one day, it's definitely not a coincidence. The shifters were very interested in me now.
Not to mention my ex-boyfriend was one of the top shifter hunters in town. So, no, our relationship wasn’t easy. Not here in Woodland Creek. It was complicated, but most were. Ours was just on a different level of complication.
Nevertheless, he was coming over. The last time he had been here, it hadn’t been a pretty morning. He had been waiting for me when I had walked in that morning after the ‘incident.’ He had taken one look at my appearance, the bruises on my wrists and my guilty expression, and practically made the roof fall down as he shouted so loudly in furious anger.
He’d had access to drugs. Had dosed himself up with a tranquilizer and slept through the night.
I had not had drugs.
I had hurt him.
He knew it wasn’t my fault…but it still hurt.
Rushing around the room, I shut all the blinds and closed my curtains, then quickly set to making dinner in my tiny kitchen. My place was small, yet respectable, the best I could afford in Woodland Creek. I wouldn’t accept charity from anyone, including Jonathan, so I used the inheritance I had been gifted on my eighteenth birthday from my late grandmother to live on until I decided what I wanted to major in during college. I hadn’t gone yet, and I didn’t plan to. Not until I decided what I wanted to do for a career. I wasn’t an overly huge fan of school even though I had always made great grades, but I knew I would have to make a choice eventually. My play money would run out in the all too near future, even though I only pulled enough cash out every month for rent and utilities, and then my carefree nature would be snared by the reality of needing more spare money than my odd side jobs afforded me now.
